SACD's & DVD-A's marketshare (1 Viewer)

[Piers C]

Sorry it was the October issue.

 

[Seth_S]

This may be true, but the next question is are those people who have been educated willing to fork out the bucks to upgrade their system? The answer is probably no. There is a difference between those who audio is a hobby and those who just listen to music.

Not just upgrade their system, but also rebuy recordings.

MP3 is pretty much case and point why SACD and DVD-Audio will fail to ever garner mass market appeal. Does anyone really expect people who listens to low resolution dupes over cheep computer speakers and headphones to invest in these two high end formats?

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Does anyone really expect people who listens to low resolution dupes over cheep computer speakers and headphones to invest in these two high end formats?

Seth,

I guess the question becomes how many of these people are there? and how many will still not like higher rez after a strong marketing effort?

You can question the ability of Sony and partners to heavily promote Super Audio, but to sell the public as only wanting low-rez for now and forever is a big leap of faith.

If the record labels sense a possibility to resell albums because of a new format, then they will jump in with both feet. Many of these entertainment conglomerates did just that when DVD gained enough momentum.

People who can learn about and enjoy high-def TV can also learn about and enjoy high rez music.

 

[Seth_S]

Lee,

One of the reasons DVD took off so quickly was because the price of large screen TVs were dropping in the mid-90s. Just about anyone could afford to enjoy DVD's picture quality. One of the reasons that LD failed (besides being very expensive) was because few people had TV sets at the time to enjoy what the format had to offer.

Back to SACD, it's not just an issue of owning a SACD player, but also a good receiver and speakers. While there are some good "bang for your buck" receivers out there, good speakers still remain very expensive. What I foresee as happening is Sony making all their low and mid end CD players SACD compatible, and since most people have crappy sound systems, when they test out a SACD disc or two, they're not going to hear enough of a difference to warrant rebuying albums they already own, or with new releases, buying the more expensive SACD discs over the CD. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised the majority of American's home sound system is a $100 boom-box.

 

[Rachael B]

Seth, maybe Sony, and the other majors, better worry if there is any disc format that the average person would buy over traded files. I have 5 teenage nephews and they do not buy CD's. They burn baby burn!

Lee, the enjoyment of TV is far more universal than music. The two don't compare the way you set them up. There are beaucoups of people that are indifferent to or dislike music. Bad analogy....Recuerdos!

 

[Seth_S]

Rachael B,

Years of overpriced CDs have finally come back to bite the record companies in their asses.

 

[Rachael B]

Amen, Seth!

 

[Mike Broadman]

In my experience, people generally distrust claims about superior sound quality, and many just don't care. If I tell someone about high-res formats, they look at me as if I'm a Jehovah's Witness.

NP: Pat Metheny, We Live Here

 

[mike_decock]

There's only one way SACD can displace the CD:

Sony (and whatever labels they can get on board) need to stop producing CDs altogether. Release all music as hybrid SACDs for the same price they sell CDs. At the same time, stop manufacturing CD players. Make SACD capable equivalents of all current models of CD players for the same price.

Unless they do it this way, your best hope is that it will remain a niche-market, limited-selection, overpriced medium.


-Mike...

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Unless they do it this way, your best hope is that it will remain a niche-market, limited-selection, overpriced medium.

I wish Sony would do all hybrids also, but the only thing I would suggest is that the pricing on SACDs will continue to fall. We have seen one major decrease and as unit volume builds there will be others.
Maybe I'm being to optimistic on mass market acceptance, but I do believe with the right marketing strategy it can happen. That does require a lot of right moves from Sony and Philips, however.

 

[Rachael B]

Lee, I would suggest that there are alot of tourists out there who need to get their auditory system, their ears, upgraded. Just like some people have 20/80 vision, some people's hearing isn't so good. The average person will be hard pressed to accept that SACD really sounds better. SACD will only succeed as a hybrid format that gradually replaces CD. Only enthusists will hear the difference. I've pretty uch quit buying Sony discs because I expect them to be re-released yet again as hybrids in a year or two. Best wishes!

 

[mike_decock]

The average person will be hard pressed to accept that SACD really sounds better.

I don't know if they have a hard time "accepting" that they do. Hey, it's "Super Audio" CD, so it must sound better. All the ads say so, right?

I just don't think the average person CARES if it sounds better. They layman's definition of "good sound" is "lots of bass". If it can shake the walls, then it sounds good.

We can't equate the SACD push with the CD push (or even the DVD push). When it came to "selling" the CD (or the DVD), the benefits were obvious. Smaller, more durable, random access, yada, yada, yada.

The only consumer-relevant benefit of SACD over CD is multichannel capability. Even this is a feature that has little practical purpose to the average consumer. Only those who have already sprung for a surround movie system at home would care about surround music and heck, they've already had this available to them with all the surround processors anyway.

Unless SACD is so supreme that it'll turn a boombox into a holographically realistic sound system, the average consumer just ain't gonna care.


-Mike...

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Unless SACD is so supreme that it'll turn a boombox into a holographically realistic sound system, the average consumer just ain't gonna care.

I guess we just disagree Mike.
I think if on the average sound system, there is a nice bump up in sonics (which there is!) and labels continue to drift to Super Audio, then anythings possible.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I've pretty uch quit buying Sony discs because I expect them to be re-released yet again as hybrids in a year or two.

Well Rachael I agree with this. Sony needs to get around to releasing hybrids pronto.
I think there may be some production capacity issues with this given the limited amount of hybrid capacity. we are seeing more capacity come on line and that will likely make a nice difference.
It's so nice for BMG to make this capacity available for Super Audio.
And we definitely need to see more concurrent day and date releases of major titles.
If only I could go next week on the 24th and pick up the new Peter Gabriel and Beck albums in Super Audio...
That would be

 

[mike_decock]

I think if on the average sound system, there is a nice bump up in sonics (which there is!) and labels continue to drift to Super Audio, then anythings possible.

If it's just a nice bump, a lot has to do with pricing. Did the average consumer buy the Gold Mobile Fidelity CD sitting in the shelves with their aluminum counterparts? If it was a buck or two more, maybe. If it was $5 - $15 more... Probably not.

-Mike..

 

[Seth_S]

I think if on the average sound system, there is a nice bump up in sonics (which there is!) and labels continue to drift to Super Audio, then anythings possible.

I think we all have a different idea what the "average" sound system is. Average to me is low-end.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I think we all have a different idea what the "average" sound system is.

Even with a department store "rack system" (yuck!!) I bet you hear a big difference if you add a Super Audio source.
It may take a while to have Walkmans and Boomboxes in SACD, though.
What may drive this is the 80/20 rule where the heavy music buyers by volume may drive the market. If they have invested $750 or more in their systems, we know there is a difference heard. I unfortunately do not have data on the specifics.
Ultimately if we convince the music buyer and labels, the hardware folks will follow in line.

 

[KeithH]

mike_decock said:

Sony (and whatever labels they can get on board) need to stop producing CDs altogether. Release all music as hybrid SACDs for the same price they sell CDs.

Actually, what if the labels stopped producing CDs and only produced single-layer SACDs? I mentioned this idea in another thread here recently. Imagine if Capitol-EMI stopped producing Beatles CDs and re-released the entire catalog on single-layer SACDs with excellent remastering. Such a move coupled with some $200 SACD players on the market might get a lot of people buying SACDs. Throwing in a few other major artists would help the cause. Were I a record executive, I wouldn't do it, but I find it interesting from an "academic" perspective.

 

[Seth_S]

Actually, what if the labels stopped producing CDs and only produced single-layer SACDs? I mentioned this idea in another thread here recently. Imagine if Capitol-EMI stopped producing Beatles CDs and re-released the entire catalog on single-layer SACDs with excellent remastering. Such a move coupled with some $200 SACD players on the market might get a lot of people buying SACDs. Throwing in a few other major artists would help the cause. Were I a record executive, I wouldn't do it, but I find it interesting from an "academic" perspective.

Record executives would get death threats if they ever did this.



Let's look at SACD from another angle. If people can't figure out that widescreen is better than full screen, do we really expect the public at large to understand SACD?

 

[Marc Colella]

Let's look at SACD from another angle. If people can't figure out that widescreen is better than full screen, do we really expect the public at large to understand SACD?

Well said. I was thinking the same thing.

Another thing to consider is the type of music people listen to.

Most of the music that sells nowadays doesn't really lend itself to the advantages of hi-rez formats.
For example, rap, electronic and hard-rock don't sound much better in Hi-rez.
The music is usually recording at a very high a level, with too much bass and alot of distortion. Everything is too produced, and with the use of synthesizers and machines - very little sounds natural anymore.

Basically, garbage-in - garbage-out.